''Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules'' ( it, Maciste contro i mostri) is a 1962 film directed by

Guido Malatesta Guido Malatesta (1919 – 14 June 1970), born in Gallarate, Italy, was a film director and screenwriter. He began working as a professional journalist. After he moved to Rome, he was drawn to cinema, as creator of treatments, then scriptwriter ...

that was filmed in Yugoslavia and Italy.

Plot summary

Set in the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, a nomadic tribe of sun worshippers reach an area they decide to settle in. When Idar and Rhia, a young couple of the tribe come across a water monster, the monster is killed by

Maciste Maciste () is one of the oldest recurring characters of cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. He is usually depicted as a Herc ...

with a spear. The two ask Maciste to join their tribe but Maciste explains he has a destiny to fulfill of righting wrongs and must leave. Soon afterwards a cave dwelling tribe of moon worshippers led by Fuwan attack the village and carry off the sun worshipper's women. Maciste returns to the sun worshippers and enter the moon worshipper's underground city through a river. There he discovers Moah, whose father and brother who had formerly led the tribe were murdered by Fuwan and wishes to take Moah. Moah explains that the moon worshippers will sacrifice the captured women in a celebration of the full moon that night. Maciste passes through an underwater tunnel, defeats the three headed hydra that lives there and is able to eliminate the guards to the entrance and remove the stone gate to the entrance letting the vengeful sun worshippers in. The women are freed but Maciste destroys their path to the surface once they have left and is captured by the moon worshippers who bury him, and later Moah in the earth so the worms may eat their bodies. They are saved by a volcanic eruption that sets them free and kills a large portion of the moon worshippers. Seeking revenge, the moon worshippers make a pact with a tribe of cannibals to attack the sun worshippers. The combined forces are defeated by the sun worshippers and Maciste. Moah joins Maciste on his future journeys.

Cast

* Reg Lewis as Maciste/ Maxus * Margaret Lee as Moah * Luciano Marin as Idar son of Dorak *

Andrea Aureli Andrea Aureli (5 March 1923 – 5 November 2007) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Terni, Aureli graduated from the Liceo classico in his hometown, then he enrolled the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, graduating in ...

as Fuan of the Moon People *

Birgit Bergen Birgit is a female given name, a short form of Birgitta and ultimately a Germanic form of the Gaelic name Bridget. Notable people with the name include: * Birgit Brüel, Danish singer and actress * Birgit Collin-Langen, German politician * Bir ...

as Raya *

Nello Pazzafini Nello Pazzafini (15 May 1933 – 9 January 1996) was an Italian actor who appeared in a very large number of Peplum movies, Spaghetti Westerns and Poliziotteschi. He was an ex-bodyguard and often played a "tough guy" character. Partial filmo ...

as Chief of the Ulmar People * Miria Kent as Woman of the Sun * Fulvia Gasser as Woman of the Sun * Rocco Spataro as Dorak *

Ivan Pengov Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

as Agur Monsters include a river

sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr). Mythology and fo ...

, a lizard (scaled from a real lizard), and a four-footed walking dragon.

Production

''Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules'' was a co-production between Italy's Euro International Film and Yugoslavia's Caserbib. The film was shot at Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome and on location in the caves of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. In the English-language version, Maciste is called "Maxus", referring to him as a son of Hercules. Maciste's name is changed to Maxus, so whenever Maxus' name is mentioned, a different higher-registered voice adds the dubbed name.

Release

The film was released in Italy on 25 April 1962. It was also released as ''Colossus of the Stone Age'' in England.

Reception

In his book on Italian cinema, Howard Hughes discussed the English-language dub of the film, declaring it "probably the worst dubbing job of all time".

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

*
''Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fire Monsters Against The Son Of Hercules 1962 films 1960s fantasy films Italian fantasy films 1960s Italian-language films Peplum films 1960s monster movies Yugoslav fantasy films Films set in prehistory Prehistoric people in popular culture Films directed by Guido Malatesta Maciste films Films about dragons Films shot in Slovenia Sword and sandal films 1960s Italian films